Lifeboat Foundation

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a young black woman from Baltimore, died of cancer. However, before her death a small sample of her cells were taken from her without her knowledge, and these cells did not die. Unlike every other previous sample of human cells, these continued to grow and multiply and still do so today. The HeLa cells became the first ‘immortalised human cell line’ and have helped both save and create millions of lives ever since. Video by Dan John Animation by Lily Baker.